CALIFORNIA RESEARCH BUREAUCALIFORNIA STATE LIBRARYStudies in the News

California -- One Hundred and Fifty Years Ago

November 26, 1852 - "Series of earthquakes in the lower part of the state lasted several days. A severe earthquake created a fissure a half mile wide and three hundred yards long through which the waters of Lake Merced flowed to the sea. " www.sfmuseum.org/hist/chron3.html

November 1852 - "A series of strong shocks was felt across southern California in November of 1852, from Baja California to San Luis Obispo, but the relation between these earthquakes (if indeed there were several strong shocks) is unknown. … Shaking near Fort Yuma was quite strong, and part of Chimney Peak was thrown down. Shaking was felt in San Diego, lasting perhaps a minute or two." www.scecdc.scec.org/volcanol.html

Studies in the News is a very current compilation of items significant to the Legislature and Governor's Office. It is created weekly by the State Library's Research Bureau to supplement the public policy debate in California’s Capitol. To help share the latest information with state policymakers, these reading lists are now being made accessible through the State Library’s website. This week's list of current articles in various public policy areas is presented below.

Service to State Employees:

When available, the URL for the full text of each item is provided.

Items in the State Library collection can be checked out to state officials and staff.

Access to all materials listed will be provided by the State Information Reference Center, either by e-mail to cslsirc@library.ca.gov or by calling 654-0261.

Economic Forecast for Southern California and Orange County. By Anil K. Puri, Institute for Economic and Environmental Studies, College of Business and Economics, California State University, Fullerton. Presented to the Eighth Annual Economic Forecast Conference. (The Institute, Fullerton, California) October 4, 2002. 48 p.

["Experts See Job Growth Returning to Orange County Next Year: Overall, Orange County employers are expected to create 14,400 jobs next year, equal to a 1.0 percent growth rate.... The Fullerton forecast projects a 2.9 percent increase in the U.S. gross national product next year, up from an expected 2.5 percent this year." Orange County Register (October 24, 2002) 1.]

["The U.S. Supreme Court rebuked the federal appeals court in California for having wrongly ruled in favor of two Los Angeles-area murderers who had appealed their convictions.... The justices said the federal judges in California had exceeded their authority by second-guessing a state court.... State prosecutors said that they were pleased with the decisions and that they could speed the way to carrying out the death penalty." Los Angeles Times (November 5, 2002) B1.]

["In the first ruling of its kind, a Sacramento judge has found unconstitutional a recent law allowing forced DNA testing of federal probationers with violent felonies, but who are not subjects of current criminal investigations.... His ruling did not address collection of DNA from federal prisoners, which is allowed under the law." Sacramento Bee (November 7, 2002) A1.]

["U.C. Davis has released a report providing the first complete description of how more than 200,000 handguns are sold legally in California each year. The study, which includes state, county, and city data, is designed to help policymakers identify trends and develop strategies to reduce gun-related violence." The Future of Children Newsletter (November 4, 2002)]

["The proliferation of biometric technologies raises new and challenging questions in a society that enshrines privacy and liberty. Biometrics can either enhance or undermine our liberties depending on their uses. A framework is needed by which we may resolve issues pertaining to proper and legitimate deployment.... Most fundamentally, governments should not force citizens to submit to biometric identification."]

[“Despite significant investments in youth-violence prevention over the last five years, California’s largest counties are earning poor grades when it comes to the number of children those programs are reaching, according to a report…. Grades were assigned to each county in two categories: Youth safety in their own communities and youth access to violence-prevention programs, including after-school clubs, mentors, job training and other programs specifically designed to reduce youth violence.” Sacramento Bee (November 13, 2002) A3.]

The Latino Population and the Latino Electorate: The Numbers Differ. By the Pew Hispanic Center and the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Summary and Chartpack; Toplines and Fact Sheet. (The Center, Washington, DC) October 3, 2002. Various pagings.

["Inconsistency of Hispanic Vote Troubles Parties: Hispanic voters are alluring to politicians but difficult to typecast, a major study has found.... While largely registering as Democrats, Hispanic voters are ideologically ambivalent, according to the study.... Nearly 11 million California residents, about one-third of the state's total, are identified as Hispanic or Latino." Modesto Bee (October 7, 2002) 1.]

["The U.S. aerospace industry shed 15,000 space-related jobs between 1996 and 2001, according to figures by a U.S. government panel examining the future of the American aerospace industry.... California was the leading state for employment in four out of six industry segments, including guided missiles, space manufacturing and satellite communications." Space News (November 4, 2002) 15.]

["The bioscience industries use cutting-edge knowledge and techniques from the life sciences to create commercial products and services.... The advance of the biosciences causes concern, even fear, in some quarters, leading to controversies and calls for caution. The goal of this report is to provide an overview of California's bioscience industries, and to outline the actual and potential role of state policy with respect to these industries."]

["Irradiated Food Gets Thumbs-Up From USDA: The move will mean a big jump in the amount of irradiated foods available to U.S. consumers.... Irradiated fruits and vegetables make up some 40 percent of the produce consumed in this country. That added up to an estimated $39 billion last year." San Francisco Chronicle (October 22, 2002) 1.]

["The mid-1990's found California worried about the education its students were receiving. Standardized tests provided evidence that the state's students were losing ground compared to their counterparts across the country.... A task force assembled by the California Department of Education called for various reforms, among which smaller classes was strongly favored not only by the teachers' unions, but also by parents and teachers."]

["The report indicates that state government must take a stronger role in getting positive results for children. It urges Michigan's government to work toward developing policy initiatives for early education and care that would better prepare young children to succeed in both school and life." The National Institute for Early Education Research, Rutgers, NIEER) Online News (November 9, 2002).]

["The leading schools in the survey were Duke University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Stanford University. The 2002 freshman class at these three schools was more than 10 percent black. The survey also found black enrollments declined this year by 6.6 percent at the University of California, Berkeley." San Francisco Chronicle (November 4, 2002) A5.]

["Academic Standards Unchanged under New UC Admissions Policy; Report Also Finds Little Change in Ethnic Makeup: The report shows that grades and test scores of newly admitted students were essentially not affected by the policy in the first year.... The new admissions policy [asks] the campuses to consider not only academics but extracurricular activities and life challenges for all applicants." San Francisco Chronicle (November 7, 2002) A21.]

["Many states have enacted incentives to help school districts reduce their exposure to volatile energy prices and save money by using energy more efficiently.... Higher up-front costs have often prevented school districts from purchasing energy-efficient products and design services. To overcome this price barrier, several legislatures have established funds to assist schools."]

["The nation's chief energy watchdogs were guilty of a 'shocking absence of regulatory vigilance' in failing to police market abuses by Enron Corp., including allegations that the Houston firm manipulated prices during the California energy crisis, according to a Senate report.... The report ... was released as FERC Chairman Patrick Wood and other members of the commission were preparing to testify before the committee on FERC's role in overseeing Enron." San Francisco Chronicle (November 12, 2002) A13.]

["This essay reviews the current state of smart-growth and metropolitan thinking in the United States.... It describes how current government policies facilitate the excessive decentralization of people and jobs and how smart-growth reforms are being enacted, particularly at the state level, to shape new, more urban-friendly, growth patterns. The review concludes by identifying the key challenges the smart-growth movement needs to address if it is going to succeed in shaping sustainable metropolitan communities." The Brookings Institution's Moving Ideas Listserv (November 6, 2002).]

["The Smart Growth Strategy/Regional Livability Footprint Project aims to change the underlying fiscal and regulatory structure that is at the root of current growth patterns.... Examples of how current growth patterns can change and how regional agencies and state and federal governments can support more sustainable land-use decisions constitute the heart of this report."]

["For the second straight year, an overwhelming number of Californians told pollsters they prefer to drive alone to work and live in a single-family home.... Advocates of more mixed development say Californians haven't seen enough good examples of compact urban living that emphasizes walking over driving.... Home builders say the survey bolsters their arguments against local and state moves to push most new development into older cities." San Jose Mercury News (November 14, 2002) A21.]

["H.R. 3295 establishes election standards that must be adhered to by every state, while also authorizing federal funding to help states meet those standards....This Issue Brief outlines the new state election requirements and provides a state-by-state breakdown of authorized funding, the bill mandates that states must give voters an opportunity to check for and correct ballot errors in private.... States also must have a system with a manual audit capacity."]

["While attention is focused on familiar irregularities, a much more serious problem is being neglected: the fundamental flaws of the voting procedure itself.... Voting theorists argue that plurality voting is one of the worst possible choices.... Other voting systems abound ... One alternative is the instant runoff, a procedure used in Australia and Ireland.... Another is the Borda count, a point system.... A third is approval voting, used by several scientific societies, in which participants may cast votes for as many of the candidates as they choose."]

["Youthful Conservatism: Baby Boomers' Kids Take Right Turn on Prayer in School, Abortion, Survey Says: High-school and college-age youth show stronger support than their parents' generation for school prayer, federal aid to faith-based charities, religious conservatives, and government restriction of abortion, according to the survey." San Francisco Chronicle (September 25, 2002) A3.]

["Lawmakers thought they had closed a $24 billion shortfall with a budget that largely protected schools, senior programs, public safety and children's health care using a combination of cuts, borrowing and account shifts that aren't available next year. In reality, Legislative Analyst, Elizabeth Hill says this year's budget will come up $6 billion short in revenues, and another $15 billion shortfall looms next year." San Francisco Chronicle (November 15, 2002) A21.]

["In the mid-1980s, the California legislature began authorizing sales taxes for transportation projects in individual counties.... As many of these measures approach their expiration dates, and come up for reauthorization, California faces critical decisions about the role these taxes should play in transportation finance over the coming decades.... To provide some perspective on their benefits and limitations, we undertook an examination of their contributions to transportation improvements and their implications for transportation decision-making."]

["Low Voter Turnout Called Civil Rights Problem: The Greenlining Institute … asked groups of California voters about their views of the political system. 'Almost without exception California voters believe that wealthy people, corporations and special interests call the shots in American politics,' according to the report on the interviews." San Francisco Chronicle (November 13, 2002) A4.]

[“While ecstasy increasingly becomes a favored drug among teens, only 1 percent of U.S. parents believe their child has ever tried the drug according … to a report. The survey … found … 92 percent of parents were aware of ecstasy drug, nearly half would not recognize its effects on their children.” San Francisco Chronicle (October 22, 2002) A4.]

["California Public Employees Retirement System, or CalPERS, reported that its premiums would rise an average of 25% next year. The system provides retirement and health benefits to 1.3 million state and local public employees and their families. CalPERS is the second largest buyer of health insurance in the nation and its health-care costs generally provide a good forecast for what's in store for other employers." Fresno Bee(September 22. 2002) C1.]

["Disparities in US childhood immunization rates persist, with inner-city, black, and Hispanic children having lower rates.... This study found that a systematic community-wide intervention of patient reminder, recall, outreach system raised childhood immunization rates ... and was associated with marked reductions in disparities in immunization rates between inner-city and suburban children and among racial and ethnic minority populations."]

["Awareness of California's affordable housing crisis had increased exponentially in recent years as home prices and rents have skyrocketed in most areas of the state, in many cases locking even middle-income families out of the housing market. For low-income families, the implications are even more severe, as families may be forced to forgo basic necessities or live in substandard or overcrowded conditions in order to afford shelter."]

If You Don't Know There's a Problem, How Can You Find a Solution?: The Need for Notice and Hearing Rights in Child Support Distribution Cases. By Paula Roberts, Center for Law and Social Policy. (The Center, Washington, DC) September 2002. 30 p.

["Many states follow neither the letter nor the spirit of the law, leaving custodial parents with little or no information about how their child support payments are being handled. This paper offers guidance for advocates to help their clients obtain their rights." Moving Ideas (October 31, 2002)]

["In this paper, the Michigan Ready to Succeed Partnership urges state government to focus on positive outcomes for children and take the lead in turning existing health, social and education programs and financing mechanisms into a system that supports young children and families." Connect for Kids Weekly (November 4, 2002)]

["The adoption population will continue to be larger than the foster care population well into the future (unless there are dramatic changes in the number of foster care admissions).... Conclusion and implications from this study include: demand for services to support adoptive families should grow at a rate commensurate with the changing trends in foster care and adoption; state agencies and the federal government will have to allocate greater resources to children adopted from foster care in order to support permanency and well-being." National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information's Children's Bureau Express (November 8, 2002) online.]

["This study finds that youth aging out of foster care are underemployed and progress more slowly in the labor market than other youth. The study focused on youth exiting foster care near their 18th birthdays in California, Illinois, and South Carolina during a 13-quarter time period in the mid-1990s.... The results are also compared to youth that were reunified with their parents prior to their 18th birthday as well as to low-income youth." National Clearinghouse on Child Abuse and Neglect Information's Children's Bureau Express (November 8, 2002.

[“More than 2.24 million low-income Californians cannot always put food on the table, and one in three have experienced hunger, according to a new survey…. Hunger and food shortages often are the result of job layoffs or illness and pose serious health risks…. The survey found that statewide, 28 percent of adults who make more than $36,000 a year for a family of four – that is, those earning twice the poverty level -- struggle to put food on the table…. The survey found that poverty and hunger hit the most vulnerable populations, including pregnant women, the elderly, undocumented residents and single-parent families.” Associated Press (November 4, 2002) 1.]

["Arguing that pro-technology is pro-people, Thomas R. DeGregori, professor of economics at the University of Houston, turns a close eye on what he calls the 'fads and phobias' of the anti-technology lobby, the fashionable environmentalists, and the green consumerists. In this provocative work, Prof. DeGregori explores many of the revolutionary technological advances of the past century, especially those in agriculture, like the development of bioengineered foods. He demonstrates that such technology has increased the average lifespan and improved our well-being." Cato Press Release (September 25, 2002) 1.]

["The book summarizes the current state of knowledge about climate change and discusses the history of negotiations since 1992 -- in the process identifying the Kyoto Protocol as the wrong approach to the problem. It outlines important insights that economic theory offers for the design of climate policy, and uses those insights to develop a simple framework that will reduce greenhouse gas emissions while guaranteeing that short-run costs of compliance will not be excessive." Publisher's announcement.]

["As Cato's fiscal policy director Chris Edwards winds up his dismaying chapter on fiscal policy in the Cato Handbook: 'Both Congress and the Administration must end their shortsighted jostling for more taxpayer cash. Not only is the government running huge deficits again, but the looming explosion in entitlement costs demands that all aspects of the federal spending empire be overhauled.'" Washington Times (November 5, 2002) A16.]

[“An average of more than 40 potentially harmful drug errors per day were found in hospitals in a new study…. The most common errors were giving hospitalized patients medication at the wrong time or not at all…. Errors occurred in nearly 1 out of 5 doses in a typical, 300-bed hospital, which translates to about two errors per patient daily. Seven percent of the errors were considered potentially harmful.” San Francisco Chronicle (September 9, 2002) A7.]